Paper Authors

John Gardner
Boise State University

John F. Gardner is Professor & Chair of the Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Department at Boise State University. He is also Director of the Hewlett Foundation funded Engineering Schools of the West Initiative at Boise State. His current research interests, in addition to engineering education, include dynamic systems and sustainable energy systems.

Pat Pyke
Boise State University

Patricia A. Pyke is the Director of Education Research for the College of Engineering at Boise State University. She oversees projects in freshman programs, math support, mentoring, outreach, and women’s programs. She earned a B.S.E. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California at Berkeley.

Marcia Belcheir
Boise State University

Marcia J. Belcheir is the Associate Director of the Office of Institutional Analysis, Assessment and Reporting at Boise State University. She earned a Ph.D. in Educational Measurement and Evaluation from the University of Florida. Her research interests focus on college student retention with a particular emphasis on classroom experiences and their relationship to retention.

Cheryl Schrader
Boise State University

Cheryl B. Schrader is Dean of the College of Engineering and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Boise State University. Dean Schrader has an extensive record of publications and sponsored research in the systems, control and engineering education fields. She received the 2005 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Engineering and Mathematics Mentoring from the White House for an enduring, strong, and personal commitment to underrepresented engineering students and faculty.

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Testing Our Assumptions: Mathematics Preparation and its Role
in Engineering Student Success

Abstract

Two studies are presented that attempt to test commonly held assumptions regarding
mathematics preparation as a predictor to success and retention in engineering programs.
Many engineering educators, high school teachers and guidance counselors recommend
that engineering programs should only be attempted by students who excel in accelerated
and advance placement high school mathematics. The underlying assumption behind this
belief is that success in high school mathematics is the best predictor of success as an
engineering student and, by extension, a practicing engineer. Boise State University, as a
metropolitan university in a region that is not supported by a community college system,
is uniquely situated to test these assumptions. We have found that more than 30% of our
successful students (those who earn bachelors degrees) began their college career at the
eighth or tenth grade algebra level. Even more significantly, we found that the grade
earned in their first college level mathematics class was significantly correlated to
whether or not they persisted in engineering while the level at which they began
mathematics study at the university was not. These results, if they prove to be
representative, have significant implication for policy, admissions standards and program
development to improve retention in engineering schools.

Introduction

Nearly every discussion about recruitment and retention of students in engineering
involves, or focuses on, mathematics and student preparation in mathematics. Many of
the recent studies that have been published about the looming crisis in American
competitiveness cite mathematics preparation as a major, if not the only, area that must
be improved1, 2. The common observation that college mathematics courses are
responsible for the majority of attrition in engineering programs has led to the widely
held assumption that lack of mathematics preparation is the underlying problem facing
engineering education today. Surprisingly, there is little research to critically and
quantitatively put that assumption to the test. An alternate hypothesis might be that
students are discouraged by their experience in their college mathematics classroom for
reasons that might or might not be related to performance. Over a six year period, in
conjunction with a well-funded effort to develop student support programs, we have
studied a number of factors to see how they correlate with student success in engineering.

Due to the nature of our institution, we provide access to students with a wide range of
mathematics preparation, from those with advanced placement (AP) credit for two
semesters of calculus to students who require developmental algebra at the eighth or tenth